Latest Reviews
Overall Constance is a consistent and solid action platformer. With a gorgeous visual style and satisfying combat, I’ve had a lot of fun across the board. While the boss battles can be a major spike in difficulty, it was the perseverance-mechanic and world design that kept me coming back. It...
Prism Peak is a game I liked being a part of, even when I was frustrated with its odd pacing and metaphors. It's pretty, thoughtful, and more emotionally honest than most games that wear their hearts this visibly. But it's also a game that crams too much into a single...
It’s somewhat wild to me that Jay and Silent Bob: Chronic Blunt Punch is basically the arcade version of the 2020 pseudo-NES release of Jay and Silent Bob: Mall Brawl. They feel incredibly similar in that they’re both totally fine beat-’em-ups that are good enough to stand on their own...
Pushing through some of the more devious sections, I felt a sound sense of accomplishment in rolling credits on Saint Slayer: Spear of Sacrilege, in all its alliterative glory. In more ways than one, it's not for the faint of heart, but those seeking a retro-style challenge in 8-bit packaging...
Pragmata is like a return to a different era of AAA game development–something like Vanquish, Õkami, or Mirror’s Edge, games that really didn’t require sequels but had their focus on a sole aesthetic and core gameplay loop. Games that didn’t throw a hundred things at the wall to see what...
All that said, I think this game has great bones and I’d love to see a sequel someday that addresses some of my issues with it.
People of Note
Although it may strike a chord with those who really love its theme and aesthetic, People of Note plays it a bit more monotone than I had hoped. The few high notes aren't able to fully compensate for the safe storytelling and narrative design, and the combat waffles too much...
ChainStaff is one of the coolest freaking platformers I’ve played in a long time. It’s just cool to dart around these vibrant levels with a neat grapple gun. It’s rewarding to toss your staff from across the screen to one shot a big enemy. It absolutely rules to throw down...
TR-49
I had my hopes up that Inkle would release a fix or patch before the embargo was up, but this seems unlikely to happen. At this time I find it hard to recommend TR-49, which pains me because I did get really into it. If you’ve loved Inkle’s previous narrative...
At the end of the day, I got what I wanted out of Marvel MaXimum Collection. I can play the arcade versions of X-Men and Captain America and the Avengers in the comfort of my own home. I can relive ‘90s video game rental memories with Arcade’s Revenge and the...
South of Midnight is a fantastic game in isolation that merely struggles with some poorly implemented combat. On Switch 2, that misstep is exacerbated by the addition of performance problems in handheld mode. If you’re playing docked I can largely recommend this version without apprehension, but it is hard to...
When writing reviews, I caution myself against hyperbole or overselling a game, even when I enjoy it quite a bit. In the age of hot takes and reaching for engagement, the temptation is there to elevate games in a bombastic, eye-grabbing way. That said, I can’t help but lavish...
